Time spent arguing with the faithful is, oddly enough, almost never wasted.
Interpretation
Engaging in discussions with strong believers can be valuable, even if the debate seems unproductive.
Christopher Hitchens suggests that while debates with those who have unwavering beliefs may seem fruitless, they often lead to enlightening exchanges. These discussions not only challenge our own perspectives but can also prompt deeper understanding and reflection on fundamental ideas, thereby enriching the discourse on faith and belief systems.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of dialogue, one could use this quote to emphasize the value of discussing beliefs.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to make it one's specialty seems to me as strange as eating nothing but horseradish." - Lara, from Doctor Zhivago
We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It's about conflicts between creation stories.
Now imagine a world in which everyone, but especially people with power and influence, holds an expanded view of our place in the cosmos. With that perspective, our problems would shrink-or never arise at all-and we could celebrate our earthly differences while shunning the behavior of our predecessors who slaughtered each other because of them.
The whole theme of Interview with the Vampire was Louis's quest for meaning in a godless world. He searched to find the oldest existing immortal simply to ask, What is the meaning of what we are?
The message from Wal-Mart today to the rest of the business community is there need not be any conflict between the environment and the economy. We will find the way not only to reconcile (those), but to find new profits and new opportunities as we do the right thing.
If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.